Beaver Stadium Tours Available Arts Fest Weekend

Standing on the springy green turf of Beaver Stadium and looking at the towering rows of empty stands rising around her, Penn State Alumni Candy Whitaker says she’s struck by how quiet the stadium is.

Whitaker and her father, Tom Warner of Belleville, Pa., were taking a behind-the-scenes tour of Beaver Stadium Friday afternoon. Having taken the tour last year, Whitaker says she knew it would be a great way to bond with her father over Arts Fest weekend.

The Penn State All-Sports Museum is currently offering backstage tours of the iconic Beaver Stadium, adding another entertainment option for Penn State alumni and fans in town for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

The tour takes guests through the media room in which post-game press conferences are held, through the locker room and onto the stadium grass before leading them through the exclusive Letterman’s Club and Recruiting Lounge.

Though some of these tours are already sold out for upcoming events like parent’s weekend during the fall semester, museum director Ken Hickman says tickets for tours on Saturday and Sunday are still available.

For Allan Miller Jr., who “grew up in a household with a strong Penn State tradition,” Friday afternoon’s tour of the stadium was the culmination of “a pilgrimage” that brought him back to Happy Valley all the way from Austin, Texas.

Miller has fond memories of hanging a blue and white flag outside his childhood home in Pennsylvania each Saturday and going to home games with his father. He hopes that by bringing his four-year-old son Hudson with him on the tour, he can pass on some of the same Penn State tradition he grew up with.

“This is a way to pay tribute to my father,” Miller says, explaining that he passed away last year. “I know he’d be so thrilled that we’re able to walk out there on that field.”

While many out-of-town visitors to State College this weekend have arrived for the Arts Fest, Joe Adameck drove down from Wattsburg, Pennsylvania just for the tour of the stadium. A 1982 alumnus and lifelong Penn State football fan, he says he’s always wanted to see the stadium from a more personal perspective.

“It feels very different when you’re on the field looking up compared to when you’re in the stands looking down,” Adameck says. “It gives you a new perspective on just how big the stadium really is.”

Tours will be held at 9:00 and 11:00 on Saturday morning, 1:00 and 3:00 on Saturday afternoon and 11:00 on Sunday morning. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children, students and seniors. All proceeds benefit the All-Sports Museum. More information can be found at the museum website or by calling (814) 865-0044.

Michael Martin Garrett is a general assignment reporter for StateCollege.com, a graduate of Penn State and a published poet. He's also a musician who plays bass in an indie rock band.
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